Fire and Flame
by ElegantButler
Summary: When Network 23 is destroyed, the members of Edison's team must discover the reason behind the fire.
1. The Burning of Network 23

MAX HEADROOM  
Fire and Flame

Edison Carter was awakened by a flickering light that reflected on the walls of his apartment. At first he thought it was on fire. Scrambling to his feet, he soon saw that it was not his apartment burning but something outside. Hurrying to the window he saw, to his horror, that what was burning was Network 23.

"Bryce!" he cried out, pulling his clothes on and racing at breakneck speed to the Network.  
Arriving, he saw the night shift crew standing out in the cold. Bryce was not among them.

"Where's Bryce?" he demanded.

Nobody answered.

He ran to the firefighters, demanding the same question.

"Please! He's on level thirteen! You have to get him!"

"Mr. Carter," the firefighter-in-charge said, firmly taking the anxious reporter aside. "I'm sorry. Level 13 is an inferno. If anyone was there, they're ashes by now."

"No..." Edison said, sitting down heavily on the bumper of the nearest fire truck with his head in his hands and his heart in his throat. "NO!"

Theora and Murray arrived a moment later, each having seen the same reflections on their apartment walls as Edison had seen on his. They scanned the crowd, also looking for Bryce. Their hearts sank as they saw Edison sitting on the truck bumper, sobbing.

"Bryce?" Theora asked weakly.

"Gone," Edison whispered, "Nothing but ashes. Oh, God, why? WHY?"

Theora and Murray held each other as they both wept.

Edison suddenly got to his feet. "I'm going to find out why." he vowed, darkly. "Even if it kills me."

Cheviot was awakened by the same flicker. Seeing his dreams literally going up in flames, he rushed to the burning network along with his wife.

"Gone," he said when he got there. "All that I've worked for gone. Just like that. All the shows, ratings, everything I'd planned for Network 23... just... gone."

Edison punched him in the mouth.

"Who gives a damn about your ratings, or the stupid network?" he said. "Bryce was just kill..."

"Bryce is fine, Edison," Cheviot said. "My grandson is in town and I asked... rather demanded... that Bryce show him around. And I made damned sure he couldn't get back into his studio until he did so."

"Sorry," Edison said, brightening considerably.

Cheviot's grandson wasn't the toddler or child that Edison and most of his team believed him to be. Rather he was seventeen, just a year older than Bryce.

When Cheviot had told him that someone named Bryce would be showing him around, he expected that his grandfather, possibly aware and disapproving of his homosexuality, was trying to fix him up with an attractive young woman. 'Bryce' was a unisex name after all.

When Jake Cheviot had met Bryce Lynch, therefore, he was so surprised that he felt an instant attraction to the young genius. One which his grandfather either approved of or did not notice.

"Are you paying attention to me?" Bryce asked as they sat in a Zik Zak Know Chow establishment, both finished with their burgers and sharing a large crunch fries.

"To you? Yes." Jake replied. "How can I not, your being as handsome as you are."

"Thanks, I guess," Bryce muttered. Out loud he added, "Still, that's hardly the point at this stage."

The next question Jake asked completely floored Bryce.

"Are you a virgin?"

"Am I a WHAT?"

"A virgin. You know. A guy who's never gotten any."

"Any what?" Bryce said, annoyed at how stupid this line of conversation was making him look.

"Sex." Jake explained. "Have you ever gotten laid? Shared your body with someone else?"

"If you're referring to mind transference that's not actually possible. It would cause a schizophren-"

"I'm not talking about your mind. I'm talking about taking another man's body into yours, or placing your body inside a woman's, if you prefer that."

"Is that even possible?" Bryce asked, starting to notice a reddish glow on the walls.

"I can show you how, if you..." Jake also noticed the glow. Turning he looked out the large window and saw the cause of it. "What in the name of Max Headroom?!"

Bryce turned. "Max!" he shrieked.

"Over here, Virgin!" Max called, smirking. Seeing the fire, he shook his head. "At least nobody was inside. On the other hand, I need a new crosshatch generator. I can hold out on this screen for an hour at most with no network to back me up."

"Not to worry," Bryce said. "there's a tech shop next door. I'm sure they'll have something."


	2. The Moth and the Flame

MAX HEADROOM - 20 Minutes Into the Future  
Fire and Flame

-Chapter Two: The Moth and the Flame-

Rushing to the scene of the conflagration as soon as Max was safely set up in a crosshatch generator, Jake watched silently as Edison, Theora, and Murray each hugged Bryce.

"Hey!" he laughed. "Hands off my boyfriend."

"Oh, really?" Edison teased, tousling Bryce's hair. "Well, you are cute, kid."

"Cute?!" Bryce asked. "Never mind how 'cute' I am. What happened here?"

"The fire started on the same level as your studio. Is it possible that...?"

"No, any fire in my lab would've been instantly contained. It wouldn't have made it past the fireproof doors or walls. "

"How would a fire set in the hallway affect your lab?" Theora asked.

"I would've probably been roasted alive," Bryce admitted. "That's the only problem I haven't been able to figure out, much as I hate to admit it."

"That and the basics of sex," Jake smirked.

"What is so important about the basics of sex?" Bryce demanded, looking affronted.

"Later, you two," Murray warned. "We have to figure out who started the fire on Level 13, and more importantly why it was started."

"Right," Bryce agreed. "I'd go up to my lab under normal circumstances. But my system's probably been wiped by now from overheating."

"I've got a pretty impressive system myself," Jake mentioned.

"Really?" Bryce asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Bryce?" Theora asked, eyeing Jake suspiciously, "can I see you for a moment?"

Bryce nodded and joined Theora for a quiet chat that lasted a few minutes before Bryce shrieked "HE WANTS TO DO WHAT?!"

"And the penny drop-drop-drops," Max commented with his usual glitch.

Bryce turned full glare onto Jake, who smiled winningly back at him, and walked over to him. "Look, Jake. I think we need to concentrate on the fire at the network right now. After that, we'll see what happens."

"Right," Jake agreed. "So, have you ever done offsite work before?"

Bryce smiled as he remembered. "Edison," he said, joining the reporter and the others, "Let's go to your place. We can access the grid from there."  
"Good idea," Edison agreed.

They piled into Theora's pickup, Edison and Theora in the cab. Bryce, Jake, Murray, and Cheviot sat in the back.

"Truck beds aren't very comfy," Jake pointed out. "Why don't you sit in my lap, Bryce?"

"Why don't you just pass me that blanket over there to sit on and keep your mind on the business at hand?"

"I can't help it," Jake said, "danger brings out the animal in me."

"Well, try to help it," Murray warned, "or I'll have you neutered."

"Warning understood," Jake said, sitting next to Bryce and trying to be more subtle.

When the group reached Edison's condo, they climbed out of the truck and went inside. Bryce had almost made it to the door, when Jake stopped him.

Pulling Bryce into his arms, he removed Bryce's glasses and gazed directly into his eyes. "A taste of things to come," he whispered, kissing Bryce unexpectedly.

Bryce let out a low growl in rage and slapped Jake across the face.

"That's for stealing my first kiss," he said, storming inside and slamming the door, which he locked before Jake could enter.

"Okay," Edison, he said, trying not to show how flustered he was at he moment, "let's link up your computer to the main grid."


End file.
